Written Answers Thursday 28 February 2008

Scottish Executive

Broadcasting

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many reports it has received from the Scottish Broadcasting Commission since May 2007; on what subjects, and what action has been taken as a result.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Broadcasting Commission has published one report, in January 2008, in line with the work programme it published shortly after its first meeting on 26 October last year. This was an interim report about the economic phase of its work. The commission plans two further such interim reports, about the democratic and cultural aspects of its remit. It then plans to publish a full report later in the 2008.

  The interim report published in January contained no specific recommendations for action by the Scottish Government. The commission plans to make recommendations in its final report and the government will consider whether it should take action as a consequence of these recommendations.

Cancer

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidences of cancer have been diagnosed in the Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley parliamentary constituency in each of the last 10 years, broken down by type.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is shown in the following table for the years 1995-2004 (the most recent data available).

  Trends in incidence of selected cancers in residents of Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley parliamentary constituency, 1995-2004 (Numbers of registrations, by year of diagnosis):

  

 Cancer Site / Type (ICD-10)
 Year of Diagnosis


 1995
 1996
 1997
 1998
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004


 all malignant neoplasms1
 394
 436
 446
 419
 445
 405
 453
 475
 474
 497


 Head and Neck (C00-C14, C30-C32)
 8
 17
 16
 9
 22
 17
 17
 14
 9
 13


 Larynx (C32)
 *
 6
 5
 5
 *
 6
 *
 6
 *
 5


 Oral Cavity (C01-C06)
 *
 6
 *
 *
 11
 6
 6
 *
 *
 *


 Oesophagus (C15)
 12
 17
 13
 12
 11
 11
 17
 18
 12
 21


 Stomach (C16)
 16
 11
 17
 14
 19
 17
 12
 13
 15
 14


 Colorectal (C18-C20)
 50
 65
 58
 51
 56
 52
 64
 48
 70
 55


 Colon (C18)
 35
 40
 38
 28
 32
 36
 42
 32
 49
 38


 Rectum, including rectosigmoid junction (C19-C20)
 15
 25
 20
 23
 24
 16
 22
 16
 21
 17


 Liver (C22)
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 5
 *
 5
 *
 7


 Pancreas (C25)
 10
 14
 11
 7
 8
 9
 10
 15
 9
 15


 Trachea, bronchus and lung (C33-C34)
 78
 70
 93
 75
 91
 83
 72
 84
 88
 75


 Malignant melanoma of the skin (C43)
 9
 15
 14
 13
 17
 10
 13
 22
 11
 7


 Breast (C50)
 64
 54
 45
 78
 63
 42
 74
 57
 55
 74


 Cervix (C53)
 6
 7
 *
 *
 5
 5
 *
 *
 5
 9


 Corpus uteri (C54)
 *
 6
 *
 7
 10
 8
 6
 8
 7
 5


 Ovary (C56)
 6
 6
 11
 6
 13
 13
 11
 8
 10
 8


 Prostate (C61)
 28
 33
 38
 34
 31
 39
 45
 60
 61
 76


 Testis (C62)
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 5
 *
 *
 *
 *


 Kidney (C64-C65)
 6
 8
 12
 15
 *
 7
 16
 8
 15
 10


 Bladder (C67)
 22
 20
 26
 15
 16
 11
 20
 21
 21
 11


 Brain and other CNS (C70-72, C75.1-75.3)
 *
 6
 5
 6
 8
 6
 5
 *
 6
 *


 Thyroid (C73)
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *


 Hodgkin’s disease (C81)
 *
 6
 *
 *
 *
 5
 *
 *
 *
 *


 Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (C82-C85)
 13
 19
 16
 9
 13
 12
 13
 16
 15
 23


 Multiple myeloma & malignant plasma cell neoplasms (C90)
 *
 *
 *
 8
 7
 9
 13
 *
 10
 14


 Leukaemias (C91-C95)
 7
 15
 8
 11
 16
 6
 9
 17
 11
 9



  Source: Scottish Cancer Registry, ISD.

  Date extracted: February 2008.

  Notes:

  * = Cell values of less than five have been suppressed.

  1. All malignant neoplasms excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (ICD-10 C00-C96 excluding C44; C97 is not used by the Scottish Cancer Registry). Please note that not all cancers are included in the itemised list, and so the individual cancers shown will not sum to the value of All Malignant Neoplasms.

Cancer

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidences of cancer have been diagnosed in South Ayrshire in each of the last 10 years, broken down by type.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is shown in the following table, for the years 1995-2004 (the most recent data available).

  Trends in incidence of selected cancers in residents of South Ayrshire council area, 1995-2004 (Numbers of registrations, by year of diagnosis):

  

 Cancer Site / Type (ICD-10)
 Year of Diagnosis


 1995
 1996
 1997
 1998
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004


 All Malignant Neoplasms1
 624
 654
 633
 646
 645
 603
 660
 704
 667
 717


 Head and Neck (C00-C14, C30-C32)
 15
 31
 21
 17
 24
 23
 26
 18
 25
 12


 Larynx (C32)
 *
 8
 5
 6
 6
 5
 9
 8
 10
 *


 Oral Cavity (C01-C06)
 15
 11
 8
 5
 6
 9
 7
 *
 9
 5


 Oesophagus (C15)
 19
 25
 13
 15
 12
 19
 22
 17
 16
 31


 Stomach (C16)
 26
 19
 31
 17
 23
 16
 23
 23
 23
 21


 Colorectal (C18-C20)
 84
 99
 110
 91
 91
 88
 97
 100
 102
 98


 Colon (C18)
 60
 66
 63
 59
 51
 57
 70
 67
 73
 73


 Rectum, incl. rectosigmoid junction (C19-C20)
 24
 33
 47
 32
 40
 31
 27
 33
 29
 25


 Liver (C22)
 *
 8
 *
 5
 9
 7
 *
 11
 *
 8


 Pancreas (C25)
 24
 20
 21
 11
 14
 18
 18
 11
 18
 19


 Trachea, bronchus and lung (C33-C34)
 105
 92
 110
 103
 113
 98
 89
 113
 105
 109


 Malignant melanoma of the skin (C43)
 24
 21
 21
 19
 21
 24
 21
 36
 25
 19


 Breast (C50)
 95
 93
 54
 133
 85
 63
 104
 100
 74
 110


 Cervix (C53)
 6
 11
 8
 *
 6
 12
 *
 5
 6
 9


 Corpus uteri (C54)
 11
 6
 9
 13
 13
 9
 16
 10
 12
 14


 Ovary (C56)
 14
 13
 18
 14
 19
 27
 15
 14
 11
 20


 Prostate (C61)
 40
 51
 46
 54
 58
 52
 61
 83
 76
 98


 Testis (C62)
 *
 6
 *
 *
 6
 *
 8
 *
 *
 *


 Kidney (C64-C65)
 10
 10
 16
 11
 13
 12
 20
 18
 20
 14


 Bladder (C67)
 33
 36
 37
 25
 28
 16
 23
 29
 27
 19


 Brain and other CNS (C70-C72, C75.1-75.3)
 7
 9
 8
 11
 15
 10
 7
 7
 6
 10


 Thyroid (C73)
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *


 Hodgkin’s disease (C81)
 5
 5
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *
 *


 Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (C82-C85)
 13
 23
 20
 15
 18
 16
 16
 17
 21
 28


 Multiple myeloma & malignant plasma cell neoplasms (C90)
 5
 6
 5
 6
 10
 10
 11
 8
 15
 13


 Leukaemias (C91-C95)
 12
 10
 13
 23
 17
 11
 25
 20
 15
 15



  Source: Scottish Cancer Registry, ISD.

  Date extracted: February 2008.

  Notes:

  * = Cell values of less than five have been suppressed.

  1. All malignant neoplasms excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (ICD-10 C00-C96 excluding C44; C97 is not used by the Scottish Cancer Registry). Please note that not all cancers are included in the itemised list, and so the individual cancers shown will not sum to the value of All Malignant Neoplasms.

Cancer

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps NHS Scotland is taking to improve data on cancer, monitor the quality of service given to skin cancer patients and raise public awareness of the health impact of excessive ultraviolet B rays on members of the public and schoolchildren.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on cancer incidence is held by Scottish Cancer Registry, a comprehensive national registry of new cancer cases annually.

  Data on cancer incidence in Scotland are also available by age group and year (1980 to 2004) on the Information Services Division website at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/files/cancer_all_types_inc.xls.

  NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is responsible for setting clinical standards for NHS services and for assessing service quality. It is expected that clinical standards applicable across all cancer services will be published by the summer of 2008. Details are available from:

  www.nhshealthquality.org.

  Regional skin cancer networks are responsible for monitoring the quality of care provided.

  NHS Health Scotland is responsible for health education and related issues and provides a range of materials to promote public education about the dangers of exposure to ultraviolet radiation. In addition, NHS boards are responsible for the delivery of local health promotion activities and programmes as required to meet the needs of their local populations.

  The National Health Promoting Schools website, funded by Scottish government, provides information and resources to help schools take positive steps towards better health and wellbeing, including tips on sun protection.

  Scottish Government continues to contribute to the SunSmart Campaign, which is run by Cancer Research UK in partnership with government across the UK. SunSmart is aimed at raising awareness of the risks of developing skin cancer and the actions people should take to limit their sun exposure.

  In addition, we plan to carry out some awareness raising related to the risks of sunbed use if our proposals for sunbed regulation, to be brought forward at stage 2 of the Public Health (Scotland) Bill, are passed by the Parliament.

Deprivation

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what priority it places on tackling deprivation in Glasgow.

Nicola Sturgeon: We are committed to tackling deprivation in Glasgow and across all of Scotland.

  We want to encourage Glasgow’s public services to work together with the voluntary sector and local communities to maximise the impact of all of the resources provided to the city; whether this is in housing, health, policing or developing the city’s economy.

  Over the next three years, Glasgow will be allocated over one third of the entire £435 million budget for the new Fairer Scotland Fund. We want all community planning partners in the city to decide how this investment to regenerate communities; tackle poverty, and improve employability can act as a catalyst for sustainable change and make real progress in addressing the unacceptable levels of poverty which persist in Glasgow.

Deprivation

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the development of single outcome agreements will be informed by Taking Forward the Government Economic Strategy: A Discussion Paper on Tackling Poverty, Inequality and Deprivation in Scotland .

John Swinney: Single outcome agreements will cover all local government services in each council area. A wide range of issues, including the ways in which we tackle poverty, inequality and deprivation, will inform the development and implementation of national and local policies and priorities. These will, in turn, inform the continued development of single outcome agreements.

Deprivation

Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will investigate, as part of its strategy on tacking poverty, the possibility of setting up a website to act as a portal for access to information on benefits, work opportunities, support, and training opportunities.

Stewart Maxwell: Effective access to advice and information is an important aspect of tackling poverty. In relation to advice on benefits, work opportunities and training opportunities it is important for a website to be able to provide information on both national aspects, such as benefits, and aspects to do with local labour market conditions. These aspects can best be captured in one place by local authority websites which already exist to provide information for their local areas.

  These local websites are complemented by national sites, such as the Jobcentre Plus website, which provides information on benefits and work opportunities, and Learn Direct Scotland’s website, which provides details of training opportunities. The Scottish Government website also provides links both to local authority websites and to the Department for Work and Pensions’ website, which provides comprehensive information on benefits.

  Given the existence of these sites at both local and national level we would not propose to establish a separate Scottish Government site, although we will continue to review links between sites to ensure that advice and information is made as accessible as possible.

Domestic Abuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Grampian from 2001-02 to 2006-07 were alcohol-related.

Fergus Ewing: This information is not held centrally.

Drug Misuse

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it will spend on drug rehabilitation in each year from 2008 to 2011, also showing in percentage real terms how these figures compare with 2007 spend.

Fergus Ewing: The Spending Review proposes £29.5 million/£32 million/£32.8 million for the period 2008-9 to 2010-11 for the drug misuse budget within the Justice portfolio alone. This represents a 14% increase in spending by 2010-11. No decision has yet been taken about how much of these monies will be allocated to health boards for drug treatment and rehabilitation services, but it is likely that the vast majority of these resources will be used for this purpose.

  In addition, in line with the local government finance settlement, it will be the responsibility of local authorities to allocate funding for drug treatment services to a level decided by themselves on the basis of their local needs and priorities from the consolidated block grant. In the past, this level of funding has been significant, and at least comparable to the ring-fenced funding provided by government.

  Health boards also use resources from their unified budget to supplement funds provided through the drug misuse budget, and £46 million has been made available over 2008-11 to provide treatment and care to people affected by hepatitis C, the vast majority of whom will be current or former drug users.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to raise awareness of drug support services in the north east of Scotland.

Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10004 on 27 February 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to create a mechanism for Grampian that would systematically review drug-related deaths.

Fergus Ewing: We are taking forward one of the recommendations from the National Forum on Drug-related Deaths which called for a new system to collect and standardise data on drug deaths. Working with Alcohol and Drug Action Teams (ADATs) across Scotland and in collaboration with ISD Scotland, work has began to create a dataset that will systematically record details of the individual circumstances surrounding a drug-related death. The dataset will be piloted in one rural and one urban area prior to being rolled out nationally.

  Information collected in the dataset can be cross-matched with the Scottish Drug Misuse Database to give a more complete picture of a person’s treatment pathway prior to death and inform local ADAT areas where there may have been opportunities for intervention. This information can be used to prevent future fatalities.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Grampian from 2001-02 to 2006-07 were drug-related.

Fergus Ewing: This information is not held centrally.

Drug Misuse

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the effect of NHS board budgets on the provision of drug rehabilitation programmes.

Fergus Ewing: The government is not aware of any assessment of the effect of NHS board budgets on the provision of drug treatment and rehabilitation programmes.

  The government has asked Audit Scotland to undertake, as a matter of urgency, a report on the scale and effectiveness of current public expenditure on drug treatment. A report will be published no later than spring 2009 and this will help guide future spending decisions.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what pilot projects funded from the (a) Schools and (b) Children, Young People and Social Care budget lines (i) ended in March 2007 and (ii) will end in March 2008.

Maureen Watt: The following tables show pilot projects funded from the (a) Schools and (b) Children, Young People and Social Care budget lines (i) ended in the year to March 2007 and (ii) ending (or already ended) in the year to March 2008.

  Under the terms of the concordat between the Scottish Government and local government decisions on the future funding of these pilot projects rightly rests with local authorities who are best able to prioritise on the basis of local need.

  Table (a) – Schools

  

 Project
 Year to March 2007
 Year to March 2008


 SELF/Motivated School Pilot Project - Glasgow
 X
 


 Barnado’s Inclusive Education Project
 X
 


"Design For Learning" – North Lanarkshire, Aberdeen, Clackmannanshire, East Ayrshire, Moray, Argyll and Bute and Scottish Borders
 X
 


"Arts and Minds" - Glasgow City
 X
 


"Confident to Learn" – East Renfrewshire
 X
 


"Arts and the Heart" - East Renfrewshire
 X
 


"Instrumental Music Lessons through VC" – Dumfries and Galloway
 X
 


"East Ayrshire Gaelic Project" – East Ayrshire
 X
 


"Inspiring Enquiring Minds" -Jordanhill School
 X
 


"Coaching and Mentoring projects" – all authorities with exception of Moray and Highland
 X
 


"Leadership project" - Moray
 
 X


"Leadership project" - Highland
 
 X


"Nurturing initiative" - Stirling & West Dunbartonshire 
 
 X


"Restorative Practices" - Highland, North Lanarkshire & Fife 
 
 X


"Community of Philosophical Enquiry" - Clackmannanshire
 
 X


"Arts Across the Curriculum" – Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, Aberdeen City, West Lothian, South Lanarkshire, Glasgow, East Renfrewshire and Scottish Arts Council
 
 X


"Superspark" – East Renfrewshire
 
 X


"Learning Teams" – East Lothian
 
 X


"Personal Learning Planning" – East Renfrewshire
 
 X


"The Mothership project" – Glasgow City
 
 X


"Future Leaders" - Edinburgh
 
 X


"The Reading Bus" – Aberdeen City
 
 X


"Leading Teachers" – Falkirk
 
 X



  Table (b) – Children, Young People and Social Care

  

 Project
 Year to March 2007
 Year to March 2008


"Looked after children educational attainment pilots" – East Ayrshire
 X
 


"Youth work community planning pilots" - Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Argylland Bute, Angus, Dundee, Edinburgh, Highland, West Lothian, East Dunbartonshire, South Lanarkshire and Fife.
 
 X


"Looked after children educational attainment pilots" - Aberdeen City, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Lothian, Edinburgh City, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian
 
 X


"Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award for Young People" – East Renfrewshire and Dundee
 
 X

Education

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8857 by Maureen Watt on 6 February 2008, how it plans to encourage local authorities to seek assistance from credit unions to help to deliver the Curriculum for Excellence, especially in areas where they already run junior savers schemes.

Stewart Maxwell: Local authorities and their schools are best placed to decide which other organisations, including credit unions, should be involved in the delivery of the Curriculum for Excellence, reflecting organisations knowledge and expertise.

  When writing the draft outcomes, Learning and Teaching Scotland researched the credit union sector to ensure that the outcomes, particularly those on loans, mortgage and debt management, cut across the full range of provision available in the financial sector.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8478 by Fiona Hyslop on 21 January 2008, what percentage of the budget was allocated for spending on children in each year from 2003 to 2007, excluding spending that would have been subsumed into other budgets such as community health.

Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8478 on 21 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  The Scottish Government’s consolidated resource accounts are laid before Parliament annually and detail expenditure on the government’s stated aims for each financial year, including spend on children and young people. In the period 2003-07 there was no "children and young people" budget line, rather expenditure on these groups ranged across the government’s budgets.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8493 by Fiona Hyslop on 18 January 2008, what total amount was allocated for additional support needs in-service training in each year from 2003 to 2007 and what percentage of the budget for children and young people this represented, excluding spending that would have been subsumed into other budgets such as community health.

Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8493 on 18 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  The Scottish Government’s consolidated resource accounts are laid before Parliament annually and detail expenditure on the government’s stated aims for each financial year, including spend on children and young people. In the period 2003-07 there was no "children and young people" budget line, rather expenditure on these groups ranged across the government’s budgets.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8489 by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2008, what total amount was allocated to the Schools Fund in each year from 2003 to 2007 and what percentage of the budget for children and young people this represented, excluding spending that would have been subsumed into other budgets such as community health.

Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8489 on 22 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  The Scottish Government’s consolidated resource accounts are laid before Parliament annually and detail expenditure on the government’s stated aims for each financial year, including spend on children and young people. In the period 2003-07 there was no "children and young people" budget line, rather expenditure on these groups ranged across the Government’s budgets.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8486 by Adam Ingram on 30 January 2008, what total amount was allocated to the Early Years and Childcare Workforce Development Fund in each year from 2003 to 2007 and what percentage of the budget for children and young people this represented, excluding spending that would have been subsumed into other budgets such as community health.

Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8486 on 30 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  The Scottish Government’s consolidated resource accounts are laid before Parliament annually and detail expenditure on the government’s stated aims for each financial year, including spend on children and young people. In the period 2003-07, there was no "children and young people" budget line, rather expenditure on these groups ranged across government’s budgets.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8505 by Adam Ingram on 29 January 2008, what total amount was allocated to additional support staff in schools in each year from 2003 to 2007 and what percentage of the budget for children and young people this represented, excluding spending that would have been subsumed into other budgets such as community health.

Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8505 on 29 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  The Scottish Government’s consolidated resource accounts are laid before Parliament annually and detail expenditure on the government’s stated aims for each financial year, including spend on children and young people. In the period 2003-07 there was no "children and young people" budget line, rather expenditure on these groups ranged across the government’s budgets.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8501 by Maureen Watt on 29 January 2008, what total amount was allocated for improving discipline in schools in each year from 2003 to 2007 and what percentage of the budget for children and young people this represented, excluding spending that would have been subsumed into other budgets such as community health.

Maureen Watt: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8501 on 29 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  The Scottish Government’s consolidated resource accounts are laid before Parliament annually and detail expenditure on the government’s stated aims for each financial year, including spend on children and young people. In the period 2003-07 there was no "children and young people" budget line, rather expenditure on these groups ranged across the government’s budgets.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8499 by Adam Ingram on 29 January 2008, what total amount was allocated for continuing professional development for teachers in each year from 2003 to 2007 and what percentage of the budget for children and young people this represented, excluding spending that would have been subsumed into other budgets such as community health.

Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8499 on 29 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  The Scottish Government’s consolidated resource accounts are laid before Parliament annually and detail expenditure on the government’s stated aims for each financial year, including spend on children and young people. In the period 2003-07 there was no "children and young people" budget line, rather expenditure on these groups ranged across the government’s budgets.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8495 by Adam Ingram on 29 January 2008, what total amount was allocated for additional teachers for early years in each year from 2003 to 2007 and what percentage of the budget for children and young people this represented, excluding spending that would have been subsumed into other budgets such as community health.

Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-8495 on 29 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  The Scottish Government’s consolidated resource accounts are laid before Parliament annually and detail expenditure on the government’s stated aims for each financial year, including spend on children and young people. In the period 2003-07 there was no "children and young people" budget line, rather expenditure on these groups ranged across the government’s budgets.

Electoral Commission

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings have taken place between ministers and members of the Electoral Commission and what matters were discussed.

John Swinney: While there are regular meetings between officials of the Scottish Government and the Electoral Commission, there have been no meetings between Scottish ministers and the Electoral Commission since the May 2007 elections.

Emergency Services

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many attacks were recorded on (a) firemen, (b) police officers and (c) hospital staff in Grampian in (i) 2003, (ii) 2004, (iii) 2005, (iv) 2006 and (v) 2007.

Fergus Ewing: The police recorded crime statistics collected centrally are based on an aggregate return, and do not distinguish the circumstances of the crime, such as the occupation of the victim. Following the introduction of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act in 2005, a new crime code (Minor Assault of an Emergency Worker) was created. However, the figures cannot be broken down by category of worker.

  In Grampian, no such offences were recorded in 2005-06, and 18 were recorded in 2006-07.

Emergency Services

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many attacks were recorded on (a) firemen, (b) police officers and (c) hospital staff in Tayside in (i) 2003, (ii) 2004, (iii) 2005, (iv) 2006 and (v) 2007.

Fergus Ewing: The police recorded crime statistics collected centrally are based on an aggregate return, and do not distinguish the circumstances of the crime, such as the occupation of the victim. Following the introduction of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act in 2005, a new crime code (Minor Assault of an Emergency Worker) was created. However, the figures cannot be broken down by category of worker.

  In Tayside, no such offences were recorded in 2005-06 or in 2006-07.

Employment

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many redundancies have been recorded in the (a) textiles, (b) agricultural, (c) electronics, (d) service and (e) tourism industries in (i) the Scottish Borders and (ii) Scotland, expressed both in real terms and as a percentage of the populations of (A) the Borders and (B) Scotland, in each year since 1999.

Jim Mather: Statistics on the number of redundancies in Scotland are not held centrally. However, table 1 provides information on the number of employee jobs in the textiles, agriculture, electronics, service and tourism industries in the Scottish Borders in each year since 1999. Table 2 provides the same information for Scotland as a whole.

  Please note that there are two discontinuities in the in the time series which mean that data for 2006 should not be compared with any data prior to 2006 and that data for 2003 should not be compared with data prior to 2003. The discontinuity caused by the change in 2006 is particularly large due to a change in the survey date.

  Table 1 Employee jobs in selected industries, Scottish Borders, 1999-2006

  

 Year
 Textiles1
 Agriculture2
 Electronics3
 Service4
 Tourism5


 1999
 3,800
 2,300
 **
 27,200
 3,400


 2000
 3,300
 2,400
 **
 29,000
 2,100


 2001
 3,100
 2,400
 **
 28,000
 2,800


 2002
 3,400
 2,400
 **
 29,400
 3,400


 2003
 2,800
 2,300
 **
 30,800
 5,300


 2004
 3,100
 2,300
 **
 29,100
 2,400


 2005
 2,600
 2,200
 **
 31,900
 4,000


 2006
 2,200
 2,300
 **
 30,700
 3,500



  Table 2 Employee jobs in selected industries, Scotland, 1999-2006

  

 Year
 Textiles1
 Agriculture2
 Electronics3
 Service4
 Tourism5


 1999
 16,100
 28,200
 62,300
 1,639,900
 153,600


 2000
 14,200
 29,700
 61,500
 1,725,200
 168,700


 2001
 11,900
 29,300
 53,500
 1,811,400
 170,000


 2002
 11,900
 28,900
 44,600
 1,813,800
 173,300


 2003
 10,600
 28,700
 37,300
 1,870,200
 171,700


 2004
 9,900
 28,400
 35,800
 1,905,000
 177,100


 2005
 8,800
 28,200
 33,400
 1,964,700
 180,600


 2006
 7,500
 28,000
 32,300
 1,934,100
 188,800



  Source: Annual Business Inquiry (ABI), Office for National Statistics.

  Notes:

  **Data are confidential, 1947 statistics of trade act.

  1. Textiles is defined as Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes 17.1-17.7.

  2. Agriculture is defined SIC Codes 01.0-01.4.

  3. Electronics is defined SIC Codes 30-33.

  4. Service is defined as SIC codes 50-99.

  5. Tourism is defined as SIC codes 55.1-55.4, 63.3, 92.5-92.7. Note that these industries are also included in the service industry.

  6. Data are rounded to the nearest hundred.

  7. ABI data are workplace based.

  8. Data from 2003 onwards are aggregated from 2003 Census Area Statistics wards which differs from previous years data which were built from 1991 census wards.

  9. Data from 1999-2002 are based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 1992 codes. Data from 2003 onwards are based on 2003 SIC codes.

  10. The reference period for data in 1999-2005 was December. The reference period in 2006 was September.

Employment

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is issued to its departments, agencies and other public bodies on non-contractual payments being made at the end of a period of employment.

John Swinney: Relevant guidance is included in the section of the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) on severance, early retirement and redundancy. The SPFM is published on the Scottish Government's website.

Energy Efficiency

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it intends to set for domestic energy efficiency improvements, as referred to in paragraph 6.4 of Energy Efficiency and Microgeneration: Achieving a Low Carbon Future: A Strategy for Scotland - draft for consultation, March 2007 .

Jim Mather: We are already proposing a challenging target of 80% emissions reductions by 2050. The Scottish Climate Change Bill consultation seeks views on sectoral targets, including in relation to energy demand. The government is also considering the role for standards for existing non-domestic buildings and housing stock and it is the intention to consult separately on new policy proposals.

  We will therefore consider the possible benefits of setting further targets for domestic energy efficiency improvements in this context and against the need for targets to have an impact on actual take-up.

Environment

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to preserve sites of environmental value in Glasgow.

Michael Russell: The Glasgow City Plan sets out Glasgow City Council’s planning policies for development affecting open spaces and other sites of environmental value within the city. Planning decisions must be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

Environment

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action its Environment and Rural Affairs department is taking to promote environmental awareness through further development of the eco schools programme.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Government works closely with Eco Schools Scotland to help provide opportunities for young people to gain the skills and knowledge they require to learn about the environment. We provide financial support for the core and school assessment activities of the Eco Schools Scotland programme and support the post of a Secondary Schools Development Officer to encourage greater secondary school participation in the programme.

European Funding

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what preparations are being made for future structural fund planning, in light of the recent Fourth European Cohesion Forum report.

Jim Mather: The current Structural Funds programming period lasts from 2007-13. It is too early to make any assumptions about the level and nature of Structural Funds that Scotland might receive post-2013. The focus of the Scottish Government remains on maximising the value to Scotland of the Structural Funds allocation for 2000-06.

  Following the Fourth Cohesion Forum, the European Commission launched a consultation on the future of Cohesion Policy after 2013. The Scottish Government submitted a response to the consultation which is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/structuralfunds.

Further Education

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of further education (FE) students attended courses that did not lead to a recognised qualification in each of the last five years.

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of disabled further education students attended courses that did not lead to a recognised qualification in each of the last five years.

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of further education students studied for a recognised qualification below SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years.

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of disabled further education students studied for a recognised qualification below SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years.

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of further education students studied for a recognised qualification above SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years.

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of disabled further education students studied for a recognised qualification above SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years.

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of further education students studying for a recognised qualification above SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years failed to complete 25% of the course.

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of disabled further education students studying for a recognised qualification above SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years failed to complete 25% of their course.

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of further education students studying for a recognised qualification below SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years failed to complete 25% of the course.

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of disabled further education students studying for a recognised qualification below SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years failed to complete 25% of the course.

Fiona Hyslop: I have provided the following table which will answer the questions S3W-9789, S3W-9791, S3W-9793, S3W-9795, S3W-9797.

  FE Enrolments at Scottish Colleges, by Level of Study and 25% Course Completion as a Percentage of all FE Enrolments in Scottish Colleges: 2002-03 to 2006-07

  

 Level of Study
 Academic Year
 Total
 Completed 25% of Course
 Did not Complete 25% of Course


 SVQ3 and above
 2002-03
 3%
 3%
 0%


 2003-04
 4%
 4%
 0%


 2004-05
 4%
 4%
 0%


 2005-06
 4%
 4%
 0%


 2006-07
 4%
 4%
 0%


 Below SVQ3
 2002-03
 36%
 33%
 2%


 2003-04
 36%
 34%
 2%


 2004-05
 37%
 36%
 2%


 2005-06
 38%
 36%
 2%


 2006-07
 36%
 34%
 2%


 No recognised qualification
 2002-03
 61%
 58%
 3%


 2003-04
 60%
 57%
 3%


 2004-05
 58%
 56%
 2%


 2005-06
 58%
 55%
 2%


 2006-07
 60%
 58%
 2%


 Total
 2002-03
 452,820
 95%
 5%


 2003-04
 432,360
 95%
 5%


 2004-05
 415,885
 96%
 4%


 2005-06
 412,740
 96%
 4%


 2006-07
 435,555
 96%
 4%



  Source: Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

  Note: Figures in this table have been rounded to the nearest 5. 0, 1, 2 have been rounded to 0.

  Below SVQ3 includes all recognised qualifications below the level of SVQ3 and those without SVQ levels.

Further Education

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of further education (FE) students studying for a recognised qualification above SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years completed 25% of the course but failed to gain a qualification.

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of further education students studying for a recognised qualification below SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years completed 25% of the course but failed to gain a qualification.

Fiona Hyslop: I have provided the following table which will answer the questions; S3W-9799, S3W-9801.

  FE Enrolments at Scottish Colleges, by Level of Study and Outcome as a Percentage of all FE Enrolments in Scottish Colleges who Completed 25% of their Course: 2002-03 to 2006-07

  

 Level of Study
 Academic Year
 Total
 Passed
 Withdrew/Failed
 Not Assessed/Deceased
 Unknown


 SVQ3 and above
 2002-03
 3%
 3%
 0%
 0%
 0%


 2003-04
 4%
 3%
 0%
 0%
 0%


 2004-05
 4%
 4%
 1%
 0%
 0%


 2005-06
 5%
 4%
 0%
 0%
 0%


 2006-07
 4%
 4%
 0%
 0%
 0%


 Below SVQ3
 2002-03
 35%
 22%
 6%
 6%
 2%


 2003-04
 36%
 24%
 6%
 5%
 1%


 2004-05
 37%
 23%
 6%
 6%
 2%


 2005-06
 38%
 25%
 7%
 5%
 2%


 2006-07
 36%
 26%
 6%
 2%
 2%


 No recognised qualification
 2002-03
 61%
 18%
 6%
 34%
 3%


 2003-04
 60%
 19%
 6%
 33%
 3%


 2004-05
 58%
 17%
 6%
 32%
 3%


 2005-06
 58%
 14%
 6%
 34%
 3%


 2006-07
 60%
 14%
 5%
 39%
 3%


 Total
 2002-03
 430,055
 43%
 12%
 40%
 5%


 2003-04
 411,560
 46%
 12%
 38%
 4%


 2004-05
 398,120
 44%
 13%
 38%
 6%


 2005-06
 395,660
 43%
 13%
 39%
 5%


 2006-07
 418,695
 44%
 11%
 40%
 4%



  Source: Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

  Note: Figures in this table have been rounded to the nearest 5. 0, 1, 2 have been rounded to 0 as well as those whose course was not designed to be asessed.

  Below SVQ3 includes all recognised qualifications below the level of SVQ3 and those without SVQ levels.

Further Education

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of disabled further education students studying for a recognised qualification above SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years completed 25% of the course but failed to gain a qualification.

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of disabled further education students studying for a recognised qualification below SVQ level 3 in each of the last five years completed 25% of the course but failed to gain a qualification.

Fiona Hyslop: I have provided the following table which will answer the questions S3W-9800 and S3W-9802.

  Disabled FE enrolments at Scottish colleges, by level of study and outcome as a percentage of all disabled FE enrolments in Scottish colleges who completed 25% of their course: 2002-03 to 2006-07

  

 Level of Study
 Academic Year
 Total
 Passed
 Withdrew/Failed
 Not Assessed/Deceased
 Unknown


 SVQ3 and above
 2002-03
 2%
 1%
 0%
 0%
 0%


 2003-04
 2%
 1%
 0%
 0%
 0%


 2004-05
 2%
 2%
 0%
 0%
 0%


 2005-06
 2%
 2%
 0%
 0%
 0%


 2006-07
 2%
 2%
 0%
 0%
 0%


 Below SVQ3
 2002-03
 23%
 14%
 4%
 4%
 0%


 2003-04
 24%
 16%
 5%
 4%
 0%


 2004-05
 28%
 17%
 6%
 4%
 0%


 2005-06
 28%
 17%
 7%
 4%
 0%


 2006-07
 27%
 19%
 6%
 2%
 0%


 No recognised qualification
 2002-03
 76%
 21%
 9%
 45%
 1%


 2003-04
 74%
 24%
 9%
 42%
 0%


 2004-05
 70%
 26%
 8%
 36%
 0%


 2005-06
 70%
 21%
 8%
 41%
 0%


 2006-07
 71%
 20%
 7%
 43%
 0%


 Total
 2002-03
 84,735
 36%
 14%
 49%
 1%


 2003-04
 82,335
 41%
 13%
 46%
 0%


 2004-05
 63,475
 45%
 15%
 40%
 0%


 2005-06
 57,125
 40%
 15%
 45%
 0%


 2006-07
 56,590
 41%
 14%
 45%
 0%



  Source: Scottish Funding Council (SFC)

  Notes:

  Figures in this table have been rounded to the nearest 5. 0, 1, 2 have been rounded to 0.

  "Not assessed" includes those students who were not assessed although the course was designed to be assessed as well as those whose course was not designed to be asessed.

  Below SVQ3 includes all recognised qualifications below the level of SVQ3 and those without SVQ levels.

Health

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of a recent Blood Pressure Association report which found that 39% of adults in Scotland have high blood pressure, what action it intends to take to tackle the issue and whether it will consider introducing a more extensive screening programme as promised in Better Health, Better Care .

Shona Robison: SIGN Guideline 97 on risk estimation and the prevention of cardiovascular disease (February 2007) highlights blood pressure as one of the key clinical measurements in assessing cardiovascular risk. This will form part of the evidence base for the clinical standards on coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease which NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is expected to develop.

  In primary care, a range of checks carried out by GPs involve measurement of blood pressure, and hypertension is one of the clinical domains of the Quality and Outcomes Framework of the new GMS contract.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why the average cost of a patient stay in an intensive care unit in 2006 was £4,000 in NHS Borders and over £12,000 in NHS Fife.

Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish Health Service Costs information is published annually by Information Services, part of NHS NSS. This information is mainly derived from financial and statistical data compiled by Scottish health boards. Each board submits overall hospital running costs split across all specialties and facilities.

  For financial year 2006-07, the cost of running intensive care units varies from £12,626 per patient episode in NHS Fife to £4,205 in NHS Borders. Individual specialty and facility costs among boards can vary for a number of reasons, for example, differences in the case complexity of patients, differences in the way the patient journey is managed or some difference in the method of apportioning financial overheads.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-30197 by Mr Andy Kerr on 6 December 2006, how many (a) patients with a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy and (b) deaths from cardiomyopathy there were in each year from 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is presented in tables 1 and 2.

  (a) Table 1: Number of patients discharged from hospital where a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy was involved, by NHS board of residence 1999-2007.

  

 NHS Board Residence
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006
 2007P


 Total
 904
 969
 953
 899
 983
 979
 1019
 1029
 1076


 Ayrshire and Arran
 59
 60
 81
 74
 85
 100
 97
 96
 79


 Borders
 27
 38
 30
 26
 23
 19
 21
 27
 28


 Dumfries and Galloway
 18
 28
 19
 27
 36
 24
 18
 29
 26


 Fife 
 61
 66
 76
 66
 59
 47
 51
 55
 56


 Forth Valley 
 43
 50
 54
 43
 59
 46
 57
 53
 35


 Grampian
 122
 119
 99
 86
 96
 131
 142
 141
 165


 Greater Glasgow and Clyde
 225
 259
 236
 201
 245
 213
 219
 232
 228


 Highland 
 58
 67
 57
 60
 69
 78
 83
 67
 95


 Lanarkshire
 89
 67
 90
 78
 82
 81
 80
 79
 92


 Lothian
 128
 115
 127
 156
 123
 142
 150
 140
 164


 Orkney
 *
 *
 *
 *
 7
 *
 **
 *
 *


 Shetland
 *
 *
 7
 *
 5
 *
 *
 *
 *


 Tayside
 47
 66
 57
 52
 70
 63
 62
 79
 75


 Western Isles
 14
 16
 15
 13
 12
 14
 10
 8
 10


 Outside Scotland/ Not Known/ Other
 10
 16
 *
 10
 12
 14
 17
 17
 16



  Source: ISD SMR01.

  PProvisional.

  Notes:

  *Cell values of less than five have been suppressed to protect patient identity.

  **Cell values have been suppressed where column totals would reveal the value of cell values of less than five.

  (b) Table 2: Numbers of deaths registered where cardiomyopathy was the underlying cause of death, by NHS board of residence 1999-2006.

  

 NHS Board Residence
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006


 Total
 99
 118
 91
 120
 101
 102
 96
 89


 Ayrshire and Arran
 7
 7
 9
 6
 9
 4
 8
 7


 Borders
 1
 0
 1
 3
 3
 5
 1
 2


 Dumfries and Galloway
 3
 1
 4
 2
 1
 2
 2
 2


 Fife 
 9
 8
 9
 3
 6
 4
 5
 8


 Forth Valley 
 7
 3
 1
 3
 5
 6
 8
 0


 Grampian
 6
 13
 4
 8
 8
 13
 15
 10


 Greater Glasgow and Clyde
 24
 38
 31
 33
 19
 20
 24
 19


 Highland 
 9
 12
 5
 16
 8
 7
 7
 7


 Lanarkshire
 9
 9
 5
 6
 11
 10
 11
 10


 Lothian
 12
 17
 10
 27
 13
 16
 9
 12


 Orkney
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1
 2
 0
 0


 Shetland
 0
 1
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1


 Tayside
 10
 7
 10
 9
 14
 8
 3
 10


 Western Isles
 1
 0
 0
 1
 2
 2
 2
 0


 Outside Scotland/ Not Known/ Other
 1
 2
 2
 3
 1
 3
 1
 1



  Source: General Register Office for Scotland mortality data.

Health

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made towards reaching a negotiated settlement on extended opening hours for general medical practices.

Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish ministers and officials continue to have constructive dialogue with representatives from the Scottish GP Committee of the British Medical Association (BMA).

  The current offer to GP practices promotes flexible access for the people of Scotland while also offering a substantial increase in investment through the GP contract. If the offer is accepted, the average practice in Scotland that extends opening hours by 2.5 hours per week will receive new money worth £19,000.

  The BMA have decided to poll GPs throughout the UK on the terms of the offer, including the Scottish elements. We believe that this offer is fair and hope that GPs will vote in favour of the present deal. We look forward to receiving the results early next month.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many visiting surgeons from EU member states have carried out operations in NHS Scotland since May 2007; how much they were paid, and how many operations they performed.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has received on the legality under EU law of the French Government’s decision to change its rules regarding access to health care for citizens of Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon: Reciprocal health care agreements within the European Economic Area form part of the European Treaty and are therefore a reserved issue. The UK Government has held discussions with the French Government about their proposals, and details of the outcome are to be found at:

  http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/Healthadvicefortravellers/DH_081416.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what skills shortages there are in the NHS, broken down by speciality or profession.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on skills shortages broken down by speciality or profession is not held centrally.

  Work to implement the Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) in NHS Scotland is on-going and will give NHSScotland boards a clearer understanding of the skills and knowledge base across a range of staff grades. NHS boards have been set a target of ensuring that all relevant employees have an agreed KSF Personal Development Plan by 31 March 2009.

  More generally, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is working with other health boards to ensure that any generic skills gaps are addressed through appropriately tailored education and training packages. Recent examples of this include on-going work to develop capability and educational frameworks for administrative, clerical and support staff; work on developing new roles at assistant practitioner level, and education and training in respect of healthcare acquired infection (HAI). Through its other programmes in relation to medical trainees, nurses and allied health professionals, NES is ensuring that relevant staff are able to update their skills on a continuous basis.

  More information on the NHSScotland workforce, which includes an overview of those areas where supply and demand are in imbalance can be found in Better Health, Better Care: Planning Tomorrow’s Workforce Today published by the Scottish Government on 14 December 2007 and available at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/12/13102832/0.

Housing

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new houses have been built by each local authority since May 2007.

Stewart Maxwell: The information requested is published on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NewBuild.

  These tables show quarterly figures up to the end of September 2007.

Identity Cards

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Justice has had with the Home Secretary on the introduction of ID cards.

Kenny MacAskill: I can confirm that I have had no discussions with the Home Secretary on the introduction of ID cards.

Junior Doctors

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many junior doctors were on special extended contracts on 31 January 2008.

Nicola Sturgeon: The recruitment of junior doctors is a matter for NHS boards as employers. On 31 January 2008, 25 doctors were on special extended contracts.

Justice

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence exists to show that sheriffs allow the excuse in law of being under the influence of alcohol.

Kenny MacAskill: To our knowledge, there is no empirical evidence about the approach taken to sentencing in Scotland in relation to offences committed under the influence of alcohol. However there is ample anecdotal evidence that alcohol is used as an excuse by many for their behaviour, whether in the courts or out.

  Scotland does have a cultural problem with alcohol and the misuse of it harms our society. Alcohol and drunkenness are at the root of a high proportion of offences committed, especially violent crimes. We are developing a long-term strategic approach to shifting attitudes and changing behaviour towards alcohol. This includes making it explicit that being intoxicated at the time of the commission of an offence should not be regarded as a mitigating factor.

Licensing

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is the intention under the Licensing (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (SSI 2007/553) that, where several licensed premises operate from within one site, each pays the premises licence fee on the basis of the rateable value of the entire site.

Kenny MacAskill: The Licensing (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 state that the fee payable must be based on the rateable value listed on the valuation roll.

Licensing

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will urgently review the Licensing (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (SSI 2007/553) in relation to the licence fee payable by licensed premises that share a site with other licensed premises.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has no plans to review these regulations before 1 September 2009, the date on which the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 comes fully into effect.

Licensing

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration has been given to experimenting with the sale of alcohol at football matches, similar to the trial at Murrayfield stadium.

Stewart Maxwell: It will be for the football authorities and clubs to present their case for any relaxation on the legislation for the sale of alcohol at football matches. However, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice would not consider any such request without the full backing of the police.

  The amendment of the Sports Grounds and Sporting Events (Designated) Order 2004 removed from the list of designated events, senior men’s international rugby union matches played at Murrayfield and Hampden Park. The relaxation of control on the sale of alcohol was only considered following police agreement and discussions with the Scottish Rugby Union.

Lifelong Learning

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to improve opportunities for lifelong learning in Ayrshire given projections by Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire that, while 23% of all job opportunities to be filled in Ayrshire over the next decade will require degree level qualifications, only 13% will be suitable for those with no qualifications

Maureen Watt: These are one set of forecasts based on historic data from economic performance inherited from previous government. They reflect the historic underperformance of the Scottish economy which is why we have taken a new approach to economic development with the Government Economic Strategy. We have placed sustainable economic development at the core of everything the government does and are working to ensure that the outcomes for the people of Ayrshire and Scotland are better than these forecasts. We will continue to encourage local approaches such as JobRotation in Ayrshire which raises the employability of jobless people by training them up in the workplace context to fill in when employees are being up skilled.

Local Government Finance

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether single outcome agreements will include a commitment to reduce local authority debt.

John Swinney: Local authorities are free to make their own decisions about how much to borrow or spend but in doing so, are under a statutory duty to determine how much they can afford and to keep that under review. They are obliged to have regard to a code of practice developed under the auspices of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), called the Prudential Code for Capital Finance in councils. They are also under a duty to have regard to statutory guidance on Best Value, which stresses the importance of good financial and project management control and of linking expenditure plans to effective asset management.

  Therefore, we are not contemplating that single outcome agreements will include a commitment to reduce local authority debt.

Local Government Finance

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities will only have access to the £70 million identified in the concordat with COSLA if they sign up to the terms of a single outcome agreement.

John Swinney: I am delighted that all 32 local authorities in Scotland have frozen (or, in one case, cut) their council tax rates in 2008-09. All 32 authorities will now receive a share of the £70 million identified in the concordat.

Local Government Finance

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what agreements in connection with its financial settlement agreed with COSLA have not been published online.

John Swinney: The relevant key documents, including the concordat, and the Finance Circulars have been published on-line. Together, these documents constitute a summary of all the agreements reached between the Scottish Government and COSLA.

Mental Health

Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific funding or programmes are in place to help young people deal with low self-esteem or depression.

Nicola Sturgeon: Helping young people deal with low self-esteem and depression is part of the Scottish Government’s priority, cross-cutting action to improve mental health and wellbeing in children and young people and to support those experiencing mental health problems.

  This includes a range of action to implement the Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care by promoting positive mental health and wellbeing, preventing mental health problems and caring for children and young people who experience mental health problems.

  The framework has been reinforced by commitments on improving mental health services, including that by 2008 a mental health link person is available to every school and that basic mental health training should be offered to all those working with, or caring for, looked after and accommodated children and young people. In addition, we are committed to increasing the availability of evidence-based psychological therapies for all age groups in a range of settings. We are providing £100,000 each year for the next five years for the provision of training for child psychotherapy.

  The Scottish Government funds the free Breathing Space advice and signposting telephone line. It is aimed primarily (though not exclusively) at young men experiencing low mood or depression.

Mental Health

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive much funding each local authority received for mental health services in each year of the 2004 spending review.

Shona Robison: Other than the funding allocated in respect of the Mental Health Specific Grant (MHSG), local authorities were not provided with a separate budget specifically for mental health services over the period. The majority of spend on mental health services will have been drawn from the overall funds allocated to local authorities through their block grant. It is the responsibility of these agencies to work in partnership and to allocate funds from the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs, priorities and agreed targets.

  The MHSG allocations made by the Scottish Government in 2005-06 to 2007-08, to which local authorities also add their own resources, are shown in the following table.

  The record funding included within the draft Scottish Government Budget to 2010-11 will ensure continuity of approach and investment on mental health and other priorities by NHS boards, local authorities and other partners, and from April 2008, MHSG will be absorbed into the main local government settlement. The funding will continue to have an important role in continuing to provide local, community based services and support for people with a mental health problem, their carers and families.

  Allocations in Each Year from 2005-06 to 2007-08

  

 Council
 (£)


 Aberdeen City
 708,400


 Aberdeenshire
 578,200


 Angus
 320,600


 Argyll and Bute
 312,200


 Clackmannan
 110,600


 Dumfries and Galloway
 373,800


 Dundee City
 341,600


 East Ayrshire
 320,600


 East Dunbartonshire
 163,800


 East Lothian
 222,600


 East Renfrewshire
 57,400


 Edinburgh City
 1,345,400


 Eilean Siar
 163,800


 Falkirk
 366,800


 Fife
 893,200


 Glasgow City
 2,774,800


 Highland
 597,800


 Inverclyde
 193,200


 Midlothian
 266,000


 Moray
 159,600


 North Ayrshire
 197,400


 North Lanarkshire
 562,800


 Orkney
 133,000


 Perth and Kinross
 271,600


 Renfrewshire
 375,200


 Scottish Borders
 310,800


 Shetland
 165,200


 South Ayrshire
 301,000


 South Lanarkshire
 750,400


 Stirling
 207,200


 West Dunbartonshire
 250,600


 West Lothian
 204,400


 Total
 14,000,000

NHS Hospitals

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received and from whom on the future of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh since May 2007.

Nicola Sturgeon: Representations have been received from individuals and politicians. Direct representations to me from politicians include those from Dr Ian McKee MSP, Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP, Nigel Griffiths MP, Mike Pringle MSP, Mike Rumbles MSP and Margaret Smith MSP.

  On Wednesday 20 February, I received a petition from the Evening News in response to their campaign calling for services to be retained at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.

NHS Services

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards are being considered to protect those whose behaviour is considered to be nuisance behaviour on NHS health care premises but which is symptomatic of a medical condition or due to a disability.

Nicola Sturgeon: I am not aware of national work on safeguards or guidance in relation to people whose behaviour on NHS health care premises is considered to be nuisance behaviour but who may have a medical condition. I would expect NHS boards to deal with such issues appropriately in light of all the circumstances, including any clinical circumstances.

NHS Staff

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to address shortages of skilled personnel in the NHS.

Nicola Sturgeon: Workforce planning arrangements are in place at national, regional and local level to ensure that there are the right staff in the right place at the right time. NHS boards publish their workforce plans in April of each year subject to affordability of the plans, availability of the labour market and adaptability of the staff.

  In addition, boards have extensive workforce development plans in place to develop the skills that are required to meet the planned service need in the future. They are supported by NHS Education for Scotland in delivering the training and development needs of staff.

NHS Staff

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there are for physiotherapists.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on vacancies for physiotherapists is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics at www.isdscotland.org/workforce . The vacancies table in the Allied health professions (AHP) section of the website shows the number of AHP vacancies by profession and NHS region and board. Latest available data is at 30 September 2007.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-151 by Nicola Sturgeon on 31 May 2007, when it will deliver the national action plan to maximise the potential of allied health professionals, in particular physiotherapists, and whether that plan will include the introduction of a job guarantee scheme for newly qualified physiotherapists similar to that already in place for nurses and midwives.

Nicola Sturgeon: The National Solutions Group for Physiotherapy has put in place a range of short, medium and long term solutions that will address the challenges facing the physiotherapy workforce. This work includes the development of a pan-Scotland allied health professionals (AHP) Bank to provide wide ranging and flexible job opportunities; implementation of NHS boards’ local action plans for physiotherapy recruitment and support; funding opportunities for newly qualified AHPs to work in primary care settings and the development of the NES web-based resource Ready4Work which will be online from April and keep graduates work ready.

  The National Solutions Group also fully considered the introduction of a one year guarantee of employment for physiotherapists similar that in place for newly qualified nurses and midwives. However, unlike nurses and midwives, the Scottish Government Health Directorates neither controls nor funds physiotherapy student intakes numbers. The National Solutions Group decided that a more appropriate approach was being created through supported succession planning as well as the range of initiatives outlined above.

National Economic Forum

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive which groups and individuals were invited to (a) make up the core membership and (b) participate in the inaugural meeting of the National Economic Forum.

John Swinney: No such distinction was made in the invitations to delegates to attend the inaugural meeting of the National Economic Forum and no final decision has yet been taken by ministers about the size and composition of any emerging core membership for future meetings.

New Futures Fund

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the recorded outcomes were of Phase 1 of the New Futures Fund.

Fiona Hyslop: New Futures Fund was delivered by Scottish Enterprise (SEN) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Phase 1 of the New Futures Fund ran from April 1999 to March 2002 and outcomes included; entry to Welfare to Work programmes, community based training, vocational training, further education, supported employment and employment.

  

 
 Number of Outcomes
 Number of Leavers
 % of Leavers Achieving Outcome


 Phase 1 (HIE)
 116
 242
 48%


 Phase 1 (SEN)
 1,636
 3,030
 54%

New Futures Fund

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the recorded outcomes were of Phase 2 of the New Futures Fund.

Fiona Hyslop: New Futures Fund was delivered by Scottish Enterprise (SEN) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Phase 2 of the New Futures Fund ran from April 2002 to June 2005 and outcomes included; entry to other Welfare to Work programmes, community based training, vocational training, further education, supported employment and employment.

  

 
 Number of Outcomes
 Number of Leavers
 % of Leavers Achieving Outcome


 Phase 1 (HIE)
 292
 504
 58%


 Phase 1 (SEN)
 2,410
 4,726
 51%

New Futures Fund

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the recorded outcomes were of the New Futures Fund from 2006 to 2008 when it was administered by community planning partnerships.

Fiona Hyslop: The purpose of the New Futures Successor Fund – funding which ends 31 March 2008 – was to mainstream the learning from the successful New Futures Fund approach. We have asked community planning partnerships to report on this at the end of May.

New Futures Fund

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to continue the New Futures Fund beyond March 2008.

Fiona Hyslop: There are no plans to continue with a separate New Futures Fund. From April 2008 the Fairer Scotland Fund will be in place across Scotland to tackle area based and individual poverty and to help more people access and sustain employment opportunities.

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive for how many months on-farm slurry storage capacity will be required in order to comply with the extended closed period for farms located in nitrate vulnerable zones.

Richard Lochhead: In general, the capacity of slurry storage facilities on a farm will need to be sufficient to comply with the relevant provisions of the planned revised regulations and to avoid pollution of the water environment. The proposed requirements are that a farmer in a nitrate vulnerable zone will need to calculate the specific requirements according to a manure and fertiliser management plan – for which guidance will be provided – and take into account the following standard requirements:

  22 weeks minimum storage capacity for cattle slurry, and

  26 weeks minimum storage capacity for pig slurry and poultry manure.

  These standard requirements will not apply to farm yard manure because it is not such a high risk to the water environment.

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue guidance to farmers on the number of months that on-farm slurry storage capacity will be required in order to comply with the extended closed period for farms located in nitrate vulnerable zones.

Richard Lochhead: It is planned that guidance will be issued to farmers in the nitrate vulnerable zones 3 months before the proposed regulations are to come into force. However, for certain provisions, such as the provision of adequate on-farm slurry storage capacity, the intention is to stage the effective dates to give farmers more time to attain the standards.

Olympic Games

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to send a delegation to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and which ministers, civil servants and other representatives are expected to attend.

Stewart Maxwell: There are currently no plans to send a delegation to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Planning

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister, his private office officials or any of his special advisors have met or had any contact by telephone or email with the Cairngorms National Park Authority regarding any matter referred to in the planning application in Aviemore in which Mr Donald Macdonald had an interest, or the adjudication of that application by the planning authority or matters related to planning applications or roads in the Aviemore area; if so, when such meetings, conversations or exchanges took place, what issues were discussed and what written records have been kept.

Michael Russell: No

Planning

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister, his private office officials or any of his special advisers have met Mr Donald Macdonald or representatives of his company and, if so, what the dates of any such meetings were, whether any matter referred to in the planning application in Aviemore in which Mr Macdonald or his company had an interest, or the adjudication of that application by the planning authority, or matters related to planning applications or roads in the Aviemore area, were discussed and what written records have been kept.

Michael Russell: With regard to the First Minister and ministers, I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9043 on 25 February 2008. None of the First Minister’s Private Office officials or any of his special advisers has met Mr Donald Macdonald or representatives of his company.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Planning

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister, his private office officials or any of his special advisers have had any contact by telephone or email with Mr Donald Macdonald or representatives of his company and, if so, what the dates of any such conversations or exchanges were, whether any matter referred to in the planning application in Aviemore in which Mr Macdonald or his company had an interest, or the adjudication of that application by the planning authority, or matters related to planning applications or roads in the Aviemore area, were referred to and what written records have been kept.

Michael Russell: The only contacts are as follows:

  A letter addressed to the First Minister from Mr Macdonald, dated 23 October 2007, was received by his constituency office in Inverurie on 24 October 2007 and passed to his Private Office by e-mail on 29 October 2007. As it provided background information on a planning application and as no action was required as a result of it, it was not drawn to the First Minister’s attention but was forwarded for a formal response by an official in the Planning Directorate, which was sent to Mr Macdonald on 20 November 2007.

  As a follow up to this letter, the First Minister’s Constituency Office in Inverurie received e-mails from Mr Donald Macdonald’s office on 7 November 2007 and 13 November 2007 enclosing further correspondence Mr Macdonald’s company had exchanged with stakeholders in the planning process including the Cairngorms National Park Authority and The Highland Council. These were forwarded to his Private Office on 9 and 13 November respectively. As these were also for information and as they once again required no action, they were not drawn to the First Minister’s attention. The e-mail of 7 November was issued with a standard acknowledgement by Private Office staff; the e-mail of 13 November was not acknowledged .

  On 7 December 2007 the First Minister, amongst others, received a briefing note on the Aviemore development applications which had been commissioned by Fergus Ewing MSP as the constituency member and was drawn up by Mr Macdonald’s agents. This was provided in the light of the representations made to the First Minister and other Ministers by Parliamentarians from four different parties the day before and elaborated on the information presented by the MSP’s.

  Special advisers telephoned the communications officer for Mr Macdonald’s company on 27 January as a courtesy to make him aware of the statement made in response to newspaper articles, and on 9 January, 23 January and 7 February in connection with an invitation the First Minister had received to speak at a charity event, during which no matters pertaining to the Aviemore development were mentioned.

Prison Service

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what educational provision is available in prisons.

Kenny MacAskill: Educational service provision is available in every Scottish prison through formal contractual arrangements.

  The curriculum available is consistent with the opportunities and qualifications available in the wider community. However, it is difficult for prisoners serving short sentences to complete educational qualifications, for example, it can take four to five months to undertake college or university courses.

  The prison education provision places a heavy emphasis on addressing literacy and numeracy needs however prisoners can undertake a wide range of subjects at different levels.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison officers were assaulted in Scottish prisons in each year since 1999, broken down by gender and category of assault.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The following table illustrates the number of incidents recorded as Assault by Prisoner or Visitor on Staff in each year from 2001.

  

 Year
 Assault Prisoner On Staff
 Assault Visitor On Staff
 Grand Total


 2001
 113
 
 113


 2002
 184
 
 184


 2003
 203
 
 203


 2004
 156
 1
 157


 2005
 166
 3
 169


 2006
 139
 5
 144


 2007
 122
 3
 125


 2008
 10
 
 10


 Grand Total
 1,093
 12
 1,105

Prison Service

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners are held in prisons, broken down by postcode area.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The following table gives the postcode area of the home address of prisoners in custody on 30 June 2006.

  

 Postcode Area
 Number of Prisoners


 AB
 378


 DD
 467


 DG
 175


 EH
 893


 FK
 268


 G
 2,066


 HS
 12


 IV
 176


 KA
 528


 KW
 23


 KY
 369


 ML
 545


 PA
 432


 PH
 123


 TD
 60


 ZE
 11


 No Fixed Abode
 308


 Outwith Scotland
 188


 Invalid or missing postcode
 183


 Total
 7205

Prison Service

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the religious backgrounds are of prisoners held in prisons, broken down by postcode area.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The following table gives the stated religion and postcode area of the home address of prisoners in custody on 30 June 2006.

  

 Postcode Area
 Church of Scotland
 Roman Catholic
 Other Christian
 Muslim
 All Other Religions
 None
 Total


 AB 
 78
 18
 21
 3
 21
 237
 378


 DD 
 132
 98
 16
 3
 7
 211
 467


 DG 
 71
 25
 7
 0
 2
 70
 175


 EH 
 227
 95
 23
 20
 12
 516
 893


 FK 
 116
 58
 10
 5
 2
 77
 268


 G 
 808
 785
 46
 56
 28
 343
 2,066


 HS 
 6
 0
 3
 0
 1
 2
 12


 IV 
 70
 19
 8
 1
 3
 75
 176


 KA 
 309
 65
 16
 0
 3
 135
 528


 KW 
 5
 0
 1
 1
 1
 15
 23


 KY 
 110
 42
 12
 1
 7
 197
 369


 ML 
 256
 184
 12
 4
 4
 85
 545


 PA 
 189
 164
 6
 3
 0
 70
 432


 PH 
 36
 21
 11
 0
 2
 53
 123


 TD 
 13
 7
 2
 0
 0
 38
 60


 ZE 
 1
 1
 2
 0
 2
 5
 11


 No Fixed Abode 
 113
 80
 21
 3
 7
 84
 308


 Outwith Scotland 
 36
 37
 41
 21
 6
 47
 188


 Invalid or missing postcode 
 64
 59
 6
 1
 4
 49
 183


 Total
 2,640
 1,758
 264
 122
 112
 2,309
 7,205

Prison Service

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the turnover of prison governors has been over the last three years.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Two governors have left the SPS through retirement, and two have joined other employers.

Prison Service

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison governors are absent on sick leave, secondment or for any other reason.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  One person currently designated as governor of a prison is at present absent.

Prison Service

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisons have temporary or acting governors.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Four prisons currently have temporary or acting governors. In three of these the Deputy Governor is temporarily in charge in keeping with normal arrangements.

Prison Service

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the arrangements are for career development and succession planning at senior levels in the Scottish Prison Service.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Career development and succession planning are managed primarily through the SPS Senior Assignment Panel which allocates managers in respect of vacancies, identified development needs and opportunities, and the individuals’ expressed preferences.

Prison Service

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken or will take to ensure that female prisoners do not have to wait for up to one hour to have access to a toilet as a result of the electronic locking systems referred to in the 2006-07 annual report of the Chief Inspector of Prisons.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  At the time of the most recent intermediate inspection, the central locking system was in use in three houseblocks at Cornton Vale; Bruce, Younger and Skye. The refurbishment of Skye House following a fire removed the central locking system from the houseblock with effect from December 2007, prisoners now have keys to their rooms and are able to access toilet facilities at any time.

  Prisoners in Bruce and Younger houseblocks are still subject to the electronic locking system. Whenever possible, staff in the prison’s Electronic Control Room allow immediate access to toilet facilities.

  However, this will not always be possible as the number of prisoners allowed access to toilet facilities during patrol and night shift periods is strictly controlled for the safety of prisoners.

Prison Service

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8987 by Kenny MacAskill on 4 February 2008, whether there are any circumstances in which prisoners in the open estate would be escorted to events outside prison.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  A prisoner would be escorted if there was a need for emergency treatment at a hospital and this was required prior to an assessment for suitability for community access having been made. Prisoners would also be escorted if they were being returned to closed conditions following a downgrade assessment being made at HM Prison Open Estate.

Rail Services

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the legal requirements are for the provision of toilet facilities on trains.

Stewart Stevenson: There are no specific legal obligations on train operators to provide toilet facilities on board trains.

Rail Services

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review the legal requirements for the provision of toilet facilities on trains.

Stewart Stevenson: The standards and legal requirement for UK rolling stock design are currently a reserved matter and are therefore the responsibility of the Department for Transport (DfT).

  The Scottish Government has no plans to review legal requirements for the provision of toilets on trains.

Rail Services

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors compliance with the legal requirements for the provision of toilet facilities on trains.

Stewart Stevenson: There are no legal requirements for the provision of toilet facilities on trains.

  However, Transport Scotland uses the Service Quality Regime (SQUIRE) to enforce First ScotRail’s obligation to maintain on-train toilets where fitted, in good, clean working order. This obligation is placed on First ScotRail through the Franchise Contract.

Roads

Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what investigation is being undertaken to determine whether ministers breached EU directives in relation to the main contract for the M74 extension.

Stewart Stevenson: An internal review of the procurement process has been carried out. It concluded that the procedures were properly conducted in accordance with EU rules.

Roads

Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether construction of the M74 extension will be delayed due to the investigation by the European Commission of the procurement process.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3O-2320 on 21 February 2008. All answers to oral parliamentary questions are available on the Business Bulletin in the Parliament’s website http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-08/wa0221.htm .

Rural Development

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency works collaboratively with Scottish Water in the interests of supporting local rural development.

Michael Russell: As the independent environmental regulator, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) collaborates closely with Scottish Water throughout Scotland at both a local and national level. Regular liaison meetings take place and SEPA is closely involved both in the delivery of the capital investment programme and in relation to individual projects.

  SEPA and Scottish Water have developed a Memorandum of Understanding which maximises the potential for connections to sewers. This is based upon SEPA’s understanding of environmental constraints and Scottish Water’s understanding of the capacity of their assets. This has been a very effective way of removing development constraints across Scotland, and particularly in more rural areas.

School Transport

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding each local authority received for school travel co-ordinators in each year of the 2004 spending review.

John Swinney: Each local authority was awarded the following grants for School Travel Coordinator posts in each year of the 2004 spending review:

  

 Local Authority
2005-06(£000)
2006-07(£000)
2007-08(£000)


 Aberdeen City
 34
 34
 34


 Aberdeenshire
 48
 50
 52


 Angus
 20
 22
 22


 Argyll and Bute
 17
 17
 17


 Clackmannanshire
 15
 15
 15


 Dumfries and Galloway
 28
 28
 28


 Dundee City
 26
 25
 25


 East Ayrshire
 24
 24
 25


 East Dunbartonshire
 23
 22
 22


 East Lothian
 18
 21
 21


 East Renfrewshire
 19
 20
 21


 Edinburgh 
 71
 73
 75


 Eilean Siar
 15
 15
 15


 Falkirk
 28
 30
 31


 Fife
 69
 71
 73


 Glasgow
 104
 101
 103


 Highland
 41
 42
 43


 Inverclyde
 16
 16
 17


 Midlothian
 17
 18
 18


 Moray
 17
 18
 18


 North Ayrshire
 28
 27
 28


 North Lanarkshire
 64
 68
 70


 Orkney Islands
 15
 15
 15


 Perthshire and Kinross
 26
 27
 28


 Renfrewshire
 33
 34
 35


 Scottish Borders
 20
 22
 23


 Shetland Islands
 15
 15
 15


 South Ayrshire
 21
 21
 22


 South Lanarkshire
 59
 62
 63


 Stirling
 16
 18
 18


 West Dunbartonshire
 19
 18
 19


 West Lothian
 34
 37
 39


 Total
 1,000
 1,026
 1,050

Scottish Government Staff

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many press officers each of its departments employs; how many press releases have been issued by each department since May 2007; how much each department has spent on press and public relations since May 2007, and how this compares with equivalent figures for the previous year.

John Swinney: The information sought is set out in the following tables. The data relates to areas which fall under the remit of the Scottish Government Communications Directorate. Information for individual portfolios/departments is not available.

  Communications Officers employed in press related activities (these figures are a snapshot taken in the months in question. They are shown as full-time equivalents).

  

 
 May 2007
 Feb 2008


 Number of Communications Officers
 40.6
 40.2



  News Releases Issued (Both Local and National Releases)

  

 
 1 May 2006 to 31 Jan 2007
 1 May 2007 to 31 Jan 2008


 Number of News Releases Issued
 1,421
 1,367



  Employer’s costs (staffing and associated costs) for Communications Officers employed during the periods detailed below.

  

 
 1 May 2006 to 31 Jan 2007
 1 May 2007 to 31 Jan 2008


 Communications Officers Costs
£1,890,240
£1,837,994



  PR Costs (Including the Staffing Costs Associated with Managing the PR Activities)

  

 
 1 May 2006 to 31 Jan 2007
 1 May 2007 to 31 Jan 2008


 PR Fees
£877,424
£548,057

Scottish Water

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much water Scottish Water lost in leakages in the most recent year for which figures are available and how much this cost.

Stewart Stevenson: In the most recent year for which figures are available, 2006-07, Scottish Water reported distribution losses and losses from customers’ supply pipes of 366,095 Ml. Treatment costs for this amount of water are estimated as approximately £16.5 million which includes volume driven energy, chemicals and associated sludge management.

Sport

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for the provision of ice-skating facilities in Aberdeen while the Linx Ice Arena is being refurbished.

Stewart Maxwell: The provision of local services and facilities is the responsibility for Aberdeen City Council to address. Aberdeen City Council is discussing a new grant stream to support displaced clubs. Clubs can bid into this for travel costs to other ice rinks. It is understood that the ice hockey and skating clubs are exploring options to travel together to Dundee.

Swimming Pools

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in discussions between sportscotland and Aberdeen City Council on the construction of a 50-metre swimming pool in the city.

Stewart Maxwell: Representatives from sportscotland’s Facilities team attended a meeting with Aberdeen City Council on 13 February 2008, which was also attended by key stakeholders. There were a number of actions agreed and further work is to be taken forward.

Teachers

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding each local authority received under the Teacher Induction Scheme in each year of the 2004 spending review.

Maureen Watt: The following table provides details of the amounts paid by specific grant to each local authority in each year of the 2004 spending review. These sums are additional to the £13 million that is included in the local government finance settlement in respect of the teacher induction scheme.

  

 Local Authority
 2005-06
 2006-07
 2007-08


 Aberdeen
£398,836
£687,199
£930,439


 Aberdeenshire
£457,844
£540,320
£873,763


 Angus
£464,384
£547,152
£627,606


 Argyll and Bute
£46,016
£149,696
£389,295


 Clackmannanshire
£54,998
£361,425
£595,069


 Dumfries and Galloway
£112,174
£145,910
£288,028


 Dundee
£57,450
£604,497
£893,587


 East Ayrshire
£629,605
£985,066
£1,159,272


 East Dunbartonshire
£516,230
£408,849
£788,585


 East Lothian
£957,149
£1,294,773
£1,156,553


 East Renfrewshire
£1,754,403
£2,176,290
£1,933,777


 Edinburgh
£980,292
£1,913,541
£2,237,272


 Eilean Siar
£7,896
£112,644
£319,862


 Falkirk
£646,526
£1,189,461
£1,128,386


 Fife
£612,614
£775,614
£1,583,932


 Glasgow
£1,546,230
£2,384,264
£2,382,138


 Highland
£200,114
£463,791
£910,017


 Inverclyde
£213,574
£715,969
£1,027,112


 Midlothian
£316,598
£822,494
£1,017,492


 Moray
£408,568
£360,136
£393,458


 North Ayrshire
£682,633
£1,087,093
£1,208,386


 North Lanarkshire
£2,069,188
£2,754,160
£2,837,715


 Orkney Islands
£162,001
£109,195
£180,128


 Perth & Kinross
£479,635
£583,875
£648,128


 Renfrewshire
£382,058
£1,534,630
£2,272,406


 Scottish Borders
£160,638
£83,588
£520,887


 Shetland Islands
£58,321
£216,678
£289,866


 South Ayrshire
£180,241
£649,701
£766,322


 South Lanarkshire
£1,834,564
£2,477,624
£2,354,734


 Stirling
£611,356
£1,044,221
£1,340,419


 West Dunbartonshire
£948,106
£1,222,342
£1,223,699


 West Lothian
£161,030
£1,056,530
£1,859,613


 Total
£18,111,272
£29,458,728
£36,137,946

Teachers

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what average (a) percentage and (b) number of four-year trained PE students secure permanent contracts at the end of their probationary years.

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what average (a) percentage and (b) number of one-year trained PE students secure permanent contracts at the end of their probationary years.

Maureen Watt: The information requested is not held centrally.

Voluntary Sector

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that support for the services provided by the voluntary sector in the Highlands should be rising or falling at present.

John Swinney: We believe that the third sector has a major contribution to make in creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth, in particular in the delivery of local outcomes within the emerging single outcome agreement.

Waste Management

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority received from the Strategic Waste Fund in each year of the 2004 spending review.

Richard Lochhead: The following table shows the total funding awarded to each local authority from the Strategic Waste Fund in each of the three years of the 2004 spending review: 2005-06; 2006-07, and 2007-08.

  

 Council
 2005-06
 2006-07
 2007-08
 Total


 Aberdeen City
 2,798,935
 1,844,333
 1,555,284
 6,198,552


 Aberdeenshire
 4,804,500
 6,367,000
 4,202,629
 15,374,129


 Angus
 2,815,500
 1,284,065
 1,262,000
 5,361,565


 Argyll and Bute
 3,599,210
 3,149,710
 3,153,110
 9,902,030


 Clackmannanshire
 372,104
 284,071
 284,071
 940,246


 Dumfries and Galloway
 4,404,500
 4,326,000
 4,438,646
 13,169,146


 Dundee
 1,614,493
 1,420,438
 3,134,329
 6,169,260


 East Ayrshire
 2,056,500
 694,000
 859,144
 3,609,644


 East Dunbartonshire
 1,831,500
 1,302,000
 1,641,000
 4,774,500


 East Lothian
 1,457,500
 1,643,000
 1,490,000
 4,590,500


 East Renfrewshire
 1,269,500
 1,032,000
 1,158,398
 3,459,898


 Edinburgh
 9,822,198
 6,685,145
 5,927,924
 22,435,267


 Falkirk
 485,425
 431,655
 1,281,699
 2,198,779


 Fife
 5,925,803
 6,819,000
 4,506,350
 17,251,153


 Glasgow
 5,433,407
 3,139,742
 5,757,994
 14,331,143


 Highland
 5,962,238
 4,480,839
 4,419,472
 14,862,549


 Inverclyde
 1,685,398
 375,938
 541,772
 2,603,108


 Midlothian
 2,101,824
 2,271,154
 3,828,154
 8,201,132


 Moray
 1,804,500
 1,232,605
 1,062,279
 4,099,384


 North Ayrshire
 1,179,500
 1,682,000
 1,404,000
 4,265,500


 North Lanarkshire
 5,484,550
 3,832,000
 3,192,055
 12,508,605


 Orkney
 567,010
 347,000
 478,000
 1,392,010


 Perth and Kinross
 1,969,980
 3,359,040
 1,922,095
 7,251,115


 Renfrewshire
 3,065,500
 1,381,000
 1,343,000
 5,789,500


 Scottish Borders
 2,987,704
 4,217,256
 2,492,742
 9,697,702


 Shetland
 591,755
 417,296
 306,425
 1,315,476


 South Ayrshire
 1,525,412
 1,671,000
 1,341,000
 4,537,412


 South Lanarkshire
 3,607,894
 3,794,650
 3,392,000
 10,794,544


 Stirling
 1,804,520
 2,354,000
 1,696,000
 5,854,520


 West Dunbartonshire
 2,700,184
 1,151,863
 1,370,300
 5,222,347


 West Lothian
 1,862,500
 2,583,000
 2,885,750
 7,331,250


 Western Isles
 6,180,500
 2,536,000
 1,283,800
 10,000,300


 Total
 93,772,043
 78,108,800
 73,611,422
 245,492,265

Waste Management

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have ceased weekly collections of residual household rubbish, according to records held by (a) it, (b) its agencies and (c) the Waste Resource Action Programme.

Richard Lochhead: The 13 Scottish local authorities that have ceased weekly collections of household residual waste are listed in the table below.

  

 Local Authority
 Weekly Collections Ceased


 Aberdeenshire
 Yes


 Angus
 Yes


 Clackmannanshire
 Yes


 East Ayrshire
 Yes


 Falkirk
 Yes


 Inverclyde
 Yes


 Midlothian
 Yes


 Moray
 Yes


 South Ayrshire
 Yes


 South Lanarkshire
 Yes


 Stirling
 Yes


 West Lothian
 Yes


 Western Isles
 Yes



  This information is from Scottish Waste Awareness Group and Remade Scotland, both of which are funded by Scottish Government. Neither the Scottish Government nor the Waste Resources Action Programme collects such information.

Waste Management

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have alternate weekly collections of residual household rubbish, according to records held by (a) it, (b) its agencies and (c) the Waste Resource Action Programme, showing the date on which each such collection was introduced.

Richard Lochhead: The 16 Scottish local authorities that have alternating weekly collections of household residual waste and recyclate are listed in the table below. Start dates have been included where this information is available.

  

 Local Authority
 Alternating Weekly Collections
 Start Date


 Aberdeenshire
 Yes
 May 2004


 Angus
 Yes
 May 2004


 Argyll and Bute
 Yes
 No record


 Clackmannanshire
 Yes
 March 2004


 East Ayrshire
 Yes
 March 2004


 Falkirk
 Yes
 February 2004


 Fife
 Yes
 April 2005


 Inverclyde
 Yes
 March 2005


 Midlothian
 Yes
 April 2005


 Moray
 Yes
 August 2004


 Renfrewshire
 Yes
 No record


 South Ayrshire
 Yes
 March 2004


 South Lanarkshire
 Yes
 October 2003


 Stirling
 Yes
 November 2003


 West Lothian
 Yes
 June 2003


 Western Isles
 Yes
 No record



  This information has been provided by the Scottish Waste Awareness Group and Remade Scotland, both of which are funded by Scottish Government. Neither the Scottish Government nor Waste and Resources Action Programme collect such information directly.

Waste Management

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities are undertaking pilot schemes in relation to introducing alternate weekly collections of household rubbish, according to the records of the Waste Resources Action Plan.

Richard Lochhead: The Waste Resources Action Programme does not hold information on Scottish local authorities that are undertaking pilot schemes in relation to alternating weekly collections of household residual waste and recyclate. However, the Scottish Waste Awareness Group is aware of such pilot schemes being undertaken in Aberdeen City and Perth and Kinross Councils.